US lawyer seeks TPS for Pakistanis

NEW YORK - A New York Immigration lawyer has urged the Obama administration to grant temporary protected status to Pakistani nationals now in the United States as a humanitarian gesture, citing the crisis in Pakistan triggered by floods. TPS (temporary protected status) would permit them (Pakistanis) to live and work here legally, and repatriate money to families back home, for 18 months, Ann Christine Barcher, who practices immigration law, said in a letter published in The New York Times on Saturday. Barcher referred to the devastation caused by the worst-ever floods. , and said, Traditionally, the United States has granted TPS to nationals of countries in crisis, most recently Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Why not Pakistan?